The ultimate Hakone one day loop itinerary

Last Updated on December 16, 2025 by Laura

Visiting Japan and want to plan an easy and fun day trip from Tokyo? Hakone is your answer! In this blog I’ll explain you how to organise a great Hakone loop itinerary from Tokyo and discover this beautiful part of Japan.

Of all the day trips from Tokyo I’ve made during my visit to Japan, Hakone remains one of the most memorable. Why? Because this mountainous area not too far from Tokyo is really a surprising place full of the most diverse landscapes and interesting attractions.

Where is Hakone?

Hakone is a mountain resort town located in western Kanagawa Prefecture at about 90 km west of Tokyo and closer to the southern side of Mt Fuji. It is known as a “mountain resort” because of the many hot springs in the area.

What is the best time to visit Hakone?

Hakone is a destination that can be visited all-year-around. Nevertheless, if one wants to take advantage of the hot springs for a warm bath, colder seasons are the ideal period for a dip. In general, spring and autumn are the best seasons to visit but keep in mind these are also peak travel periods for Japan, so you might find the area quite crowded. We visited during mid April and I was surprised that despite we found cherry blossoms in other parts of Japan, here it seems that not many cherry blossoms trees were available.

Maybe because Hakone is a volcanic area but it looked very different from other nearby areas such as Mt Fuji.

If you would like to plan a day trip to Mt Fuji, read my guide here!

Getting to and around Hakone from Tokyo

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Romance Car from Tokyo to Hakone

The best way to reach Hakone is from Tokyo. There are several ways to get to your destination and below I will explain each option so that you can chose the one that is more convenient for your trip.

By Odakyu Highway Bus

Buses directed to Hakone depart either from Shinjuku Station, Yokohama or Haneda Airport. The journey is around 2 hours and 30 mins and a one way ticket cost ￥ 2,730.

WHEN TO CHOSE A BUS RIDE: this is ideal if you have luggage with you, if you want to stop at a specific stop (not covered by main trains) or at a specific hotel, if you want to save some money and have a comfortable journey.

Tickets can be booked in advance here.

By Odakyu Railway

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Romancecar from Tokyo to Hakone

Odakyu Railway operates only from Shinjuku Station and has two different types of trains reaching Hakone: the limited express train called “Romance Car” and the slower express train.

WHEN TO CHOSE ODAKYU RAILWAY FOR YOUR TRIP TO HAKONE: if you want to save time on your trip, staying in Shijuku or having an Hakone freepass.

Limited Express Train Romancecar

I have a particular love for Japan’s limited express trains as I found out that many of them have special themes or are slightly different than regular trains with features like panoramic windows or convertible seats etc. The surplus cost is most of the time minimal and is always worth the price.

The Limited Express train Romance car travel between Shinjuku and Hakone in around 80 mins. The surplus price to get this train is Adults:￥1,200 and Children:￥600. Always remember that to board a limited express train you’ll need always Limited Express train Ticket + Regular Ticket (or pass). If you have a pass, you’ll need to pay only for the surplus fare (more on this later).

GSE Observation deck

Among the Romancecar trains going to Hakone, there is a special one called GSE. This is the only one having two observation decks, one in the front and one in the rear carriage. This train is available only at specific times and you must check the Emot Online Tickets to see if any seat is available in the observation deck. I would recommend to book these as early as possible as they get booked pretty fast. To book the seats, make sure to select the “observation deck” from the booking app. Otherwise, you will be redirected to the regular carriage. Price is the same. Bookings can be made only by mobile app.

We managed to get the seats in the observation deck during our return trip from Hakone and we really loved it. Sunset from the train was really memorable and the seats are very comfortable!

Regular Odakyu Express train

The regular Odakyu express train from Shinjuku to Hakone takes about 120 mins and stops either at Odawara and Hakone Yumoto station. Ticket price is around￥1270.

By JR (Japan Railways)

JR trains to Hakone departs from Tokyo station or Shinagawa. Unfortunately these trains run only up to Odawara Station. Therefore to reach Hakone Yumoto you’ll need to change train or take a taxi. Price for the shinkansen train to Odawara from Tokyo station is
￥3,410 for the ordinary car and ￥4,180 for the green car one way (non reserved seats are slightly cheaper but not recommended during high season). Travel time is between 40 and 50 min.

WHEN TO CHOSE JR FOR YOUR TRIP TO HAKONE: if you have a JR Pass (fares are covered), staying nearby Tokyo Station or Shinagawa, want to reach Odawara faster or travel very comfortably in Green Class.

If you want more information on how to book Shinkansen trains, read my full guide here!

Getting around Hakone. Passes and info

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Yumoto Station

Now that you know how to get to Hakone, you have to match this on how to get around there once you arrive. Indeed, Hakone is quite a vast area and many people get confused on how to move around. But Japanese people are very smart and they have thought helping tourists with this! Indeed, there is a very efficient pass that allows visitors to enjoy the best that Hakone has to offer coupled with return transportation from London.

This is the Hakone Freepass. One of the best money you can spend for your trip!

There are actually 3 other slightly different variations of the Hakone Freepass that you can match with further areas to explore. And if you think to do more day trips from Tokyo by train, these options offer even better value! These are:

What is included in the Hakone Freepass?

The Hakone Freepass offers unlimited travel around Hakone, return transportation from Tokyo’s Odakyu lines (except the Limited Express Romancecar) and discount over 70 facilities around the area. It includes in particular:

• Round-trip train transport from Shinjuku Station (Tokyo) to Odawara Station/ Hakone Yumoto Station
• Hakone Tozan Railway (mountain-train Odawara ↔ Gōra)
• Hakone Tozan Cable Car (Gōra ↔ Sōunzan)
• Hakone Ropeway (Sōunzan ↔ Togendai, via Ōwakudani)
• Hakone Sightseeing Cruise on Lake Ashi (e.g. Togendai ↔ Moto-Hakone / Hakone-machi)
• Local buses in Hakone: Hakone Tozan Bus (inside designated area)

What is the price of the Hakone Freepass

The standard Hakone Freepass has a price of ￥7,100 (2 days) and￥7,500 (3 days) . If you want to ride the Romancecar (limited express train), you’ll need to pay for the surplus of ￥1,200.

The other variations of the Hakone freepass have the following price:

• Fuji Hakone Pass￥11,100 (3 days only)
• Hakone – Kamakura Pass: ￥8,520 (3 days only)
• Hakone Freepass “Hako Ticket” Plus￥13,100 (2 days only)

Hakone Freepass for 1 day trip. Is it worth it?

In a few words, YES. Even if you won’t spend 3 full days in Hakone but just one, the pass is still very convenient. Indeed, while you still pay the full price of the pass (￥7,100), paying individually for each segment/attraction of the trip will actually cost more, even if for just one day. A summary of your estimated cost without a pass can be found here below:

Therefore, even if you don’t stay the full duration of the pass you can still save ¥1,200–¥1,500 per person. Moreover, you won’t need to queue to purchase individual tickets loosing additional time on your day out.

Personal opinion and tricks that helped me to maximise my Hakone Kamakura Pass

We personally opted for the Hakone – Kamakura Pass and I still think this was the best decision. Indeed, we paid ￥8,520 per person but we could fully use the pass in Kamakura too covering the below additional expenses that we would have made without the pass:

• One way train ticket from Shinjuku to Kamakura – ￥945
• Enoden line from Kita-Kamakura to Hase – ￥346
• Enoden line from Kamakura to Enoshima- ￥470
• One way train ticket from Enoshima to Shinjuku – ￥649

With the pass we saved an additional ￥990 from the Kamakura trip for a total of about ￥2,500 saved (circa) compared to what we would have paid for each single item. We also added a few upgrades during the trip (e.g. we booked a Romancecar for the return trip from Hakone and upgraded to a first class ticket on the Lake Ashi cruise). However, even with these upgrades we still managed to save around ￥1,000 per person, which is not much, but on the total cost of the Japan trip it always helps!

Tips and tricks for maximise your Hakone freepass

Moreover, something that people don’t realise is that even if you actively use your Hakone freepass (or its variants) only for 1 day, the pass will still work for the remaining 2 days. This means that you can still use part of it to move around in certain parts of Tokyo. Indeed, one of the advantages of the Hakone freepass is that you can have unlimited use of the Odakyu lines between Tokyo and Hakone (and the variant areas) with no specification about which lines within Tokyo can’t be used. This because tourists can be virtually based anywhere in Tokyo, so a core part of the pass is that of allowing people to reach Hakone/Kamakura/Mt Fuji from each location as long as it is on a Odakyu line train.

What this means? That instead of spending money on your Suica card to move around areas of Tokyo covered by the Odakyu line, for the extra two days remaining you can use your pass when this crosses areas of your interest. For example, the Odawara line stops also in areas such as Yoyogi or Gōtokuji.

TO NOTE: the pass doesn’t scan at the regular QR code barrier and you’ll have to show this to the personnel on the side gate.

How “to do” Hakone. One day loop itinerary

Now that you have all the information on how to get to and travel around Hakone, is time to build your one day loop itinerary! Because Hakone is full of many things to do in the most different locations, many people get confused on what to do first and optimise their itinerary. Here comes the loop itinerary. Indeed, thanks also to the way how places are organised, a loop itinerary is the most convenient and time-effective way to visit Hakone. Especially if you have only one day.

Here below you will find the exact itinerary I did, with some bonus stops I wanted to do (but didn’t have enough time). You can follow it step by step and have a great time!

Step 1 – Travel from Tokyo to Hakone (2h)

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Bus in Hakone

Either if you are travelling by bus, Odakyu line or JR, your first step is travelling from Tokyo to Odawara/Hakone Yumoto. Depending on what time you start your trip, you can choose the following two options:

OPTION A: Take a train from Tokyo to Odawara>Hakone Yumoto. Than take bus K to Hakone Amazake Tea House for a lovely tea tasting > walk the Old Tokaido Road until the Hakone Shrine. Expected travel + visit time: 2h 30 mins/ 3h.

OPTION B (tested): Take a train from Tokyo to Odawara>Hakone Yumoto. Go to bus stop n. 2, take bus H or R and stop at Hakone Shrine. Travel time: 45 mins circa.

As you can see, you can start your trip into two different ways but one of them will take quite some time (option A). I was honestly very interested in visiting the tea house and walking the Old Tokaido Road. Nevertheless, despite taking an early morning train, we still arrived around 9.30 am and completing that route would have taken most of our morning. Therefore, we reluctantly opted for option B that took us straight to the Hakone Shrine.

Step 2. Visit Hakone Shrine and the Heiwa-no-Torii (1-2h) ️

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Shrine and Heiwa-no-Torii

Another reason why we opted for Option B was the Hakone Shrine itself. Indeed, because this is now a famous insta spot, visiting the beautiful floating Torii Gate on Lake Ashi has become quite challenging unless arriving early. Despite we caught the bust straight away, we arrived at the entrance of the shrine around 10:15. After the entrance, you still need to walk 5-10 mins downhill to reach the torii by the lake. Once there, you’ll realise that you’ll need to queue to have a decent photo (unless you don’t mind having other people in the middle).

Our queue wasn’t too bad but it still we queued for about 30 mins before taking our picture. We opted for this spot first knowing that later in the day 30 mins would have become 2 hours. After having checked out the lovely Heiwa-no-Torii we climbed the cliff again this time until we reached the beautiful Hakone jinja shrine. I really loved this shrine as it is surrounded by massive Yatate Cedars, the sacred millenary trees known as part of the samurai and folklore Japanese tradition. Once we finished our visit, we collected a beautiful goshuin stamp and walked back to the cruise terminal in Motohakone via the Jinja-Dori St (10 mins walk).

If you want to know more about Japanese goshuin collection, read my detailed guide here!

Step 3. Sail across the Lake Ashi with a pirate ship (40 mins)

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Sightseeing cruise and nearby bakery

By the time we arrived in Motohakone it was already lunchtime and we were starving. While walking, we noted a pretty bakery called “Bakery & Table Hakone” and OMG it was heaven! The amount of delicious items available it almost made me cry. We bought a bag full of all of sorts of breads and pastries that we could see and took it with us on our way to the cruise. I later discovered the bakery has also a special deck with a warm foot-bath and a panoramic terrace where customer can have your food. DAMN IT! It was pretty crowded that day, so I didn’t pay attention to these important facts! But you know now, so don’t miss this out!

Boarding Hakone Sightseeing ship

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Sightseeing cruise

The boarding pier for the sightseeing cruise is just at two minutes walk from the bakery. Remember that regular tickets for the cruise are already included in your Hakone Freepass. You’ll need to show this at the entry area and they will give you a bracelet to board the cruise (you can keep this as a memento!). You will have also the chance to upgrade your regular ticket for a first class one by paying an extra ￥700 (£3,35 / $4,5) circa. I honestly recommend this upgrade and you’ll immediately see why.

Once you arrive, you will spot two lines, the one for the Hakone freepass holders/regular tickets and the one for the first class. Guess the overcrowded one? When we looked at the queue we gladly upgraded ourselves and it was worth the quite inexpensive price. Indeed, first class ticket holders have priority boarding and a separate special floor with comfy panoramic seats. Moreover, (and this was the best part), they have a private special viewing terrace that is not shared with the rest of the passengers.

In my case, I just didn’t share it with anyone else since the weather wasn’t great and I was the only one outside! The regular class passengers were tightly sharing a very small space looking very upset at me on the other side . I bet they regretted not upgrading themselves.

Crossing the Lake Ashi from Hakonemachi-ko/Motohakone to Togendai takes around 30-40 mins.

Step 4. Board the Hakone Ropeway until Owakudani Station (30 mins)

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Ropeway

The Hakone Ropeway is one of the world’s longest ropeways. It is made of 4 different stations and each leg takes around 15 mins to be completed. To reach Owakudani (your next stop) you’ll need to board the ropeway as follow:

Togendai Station > Ubako Station > Owakudani Station. Travel time is about 30 mins.

The entire Hakone Ropeway route is included in the Hakone Freepass and you can virtually hop on and off several times. Perhaps if you have more time (or spending several days in the area) you want to check also other stops such as the Kintaro-Iwa Observatory accessible from Ubako Station.

However, in a one day trip to Hakone, time is essential. Therefore, I would recommend heading straight to Owakudani.

Step 5. Visit Ōwakudani Volcanic Area (1h)

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Owakudami volcanic steam vent

At the second length of your ropeway route you will stop at Owakudani. This area of Hakone is famous mainly two things: its volcanic steam vent area and the black eggs. I was so excited about trying them!

A few notes to remember before visiting this area:

The name Ōwakudani literally means “great boiling valley”. This has to give you an immediate idea of the place you are visiting. Indeed, this is an active volcanic area created from the explosion of Hakone volcano around 3000 years ago. I want to stress out the word “active”. Indeed, as a person who has lived great part of her life at the footstep of the most active volcano in Europe (Mt. Etna), I know that many people underestimate how sudden and dangerous volcanic areas are.

Owakudani is not an exception. In fact, even if it looks very peaceful, it’s still active. This means that a sudden volcanic activity may cause the temporary (or permanent) closure of the area with no notice. This happened already in 2015 as the area was closed for about 1 year and re-opened only partially due to safety reasons.

Moreover, sudden volcanic activity or even adverse meteorological conditions can cause also the closure of the ropeway. Therefore, make sure to familiarise with an alternative means of transport (bus), in case of necessity.

Lastly but not least, if you suffer with asthma, bronchitis, heart disease, heart pacemakers or you are pregnant women is better not to enter the valley because of the risks associated with sulphur smoke/gases coming from the volcanic vents. Don’t underestimate this. The smell is pretty intense and after a while I had even a headache!

Thing to do in Owakudani

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Black Eggs

Now that all the health and safety advise has been completed, let’s go to the fun part! Indeed, Owakudani is a very peculiar area to visit. Is pretty similar to Iceland’s geyser area but at a considerable altitude. One of the best things to do is exploring the volcanic vents. Since 2016 is no longer possible to walk around them (unless on very specific pre-organised tours) but there are several panoramic terrace with an exceptional view on the valley. Moreover, the ropeway to Gora has a very incredible view directly over them!

Since last year, the newly open Earth Valley observation platform has an additional view point over the valley and it’s a perfect photo spot. Bummed that they opened just two days before my visit :(!

A favourite yummy thing I’ve did after my walk around the viewpoints, was trying the kuro-tamago. The famous black eggs boiled in the mineral-rich waters of the valley, containing high levels of sulphur (turning them black).

Lastly, it was time to shop. It’s no secret that I love shopping and Owakudani has a big souvenir shop where they sell exclusive merchandise. I found so many cute things that I still cherish with love.

Step 6. Gora and Hakone Open Air Museum (2 h)

Once you finish your Owakudani tour, is time to jump again into the ropeway. This time in direction Gora. This is a little charming mountain town on one of the highest hillsides of Hakone. Gora is particularly famous for its hot springs and traditional ryokan. During your stop in Gora, make sure to visit the stunning Hakone Open Air Museum.

TIP: when buying your tickets, make sure to show your Hakone Freepass to get a discount!

If you want to take an afternoon break, take the Hakonetozan Line up to Miyanoshita Station and head to the lovely Naraya Cafe to enjoy a lovely cafe with a stunning view on the area.

Once you finish with your cafe’/exploration you will have two options.

OPTION A: complete your loop itinerary by jumping back to the Hakonetozan Line from Miyanoshita Station and stopping at Hakone Yumoto Station (23 mins trip). If you choose this option, your itinerary ends here. It’s time to head back to Tokyo!

OPTION B: Jump back on the Hakonetozan Line for your last stop of the day: a onsen bath.

Step 7. Complete your loop itinerary with an onsen bath at Hakone Yurio ️

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Yurio

If you opt for option B (like we did) you’ll need to board again the Hakonetozan Line from Miyanoshita Station and stop at Tonosawa Station. From here, you’ll need to walk about 8 minutes until reaching an onsen called Hakone Yurio. We purposely chose this onsen for two reasons: the first it’s because this is a tattoo-friendly onsen (I’ll explain this in a moment) and the second is because it’s located quite close to the Hakone-Yumoto station and it was the perfect way to conclude our loop itinerary of Hakone.

Just a note on directions. From Tonosawa Station it was a little difficult to find Hakone Yurio because google maps was taking us somewhere completely different. From the station, you will need to walk a path in the middle of a forest (quite scenic). Make sure to follow the path and never go into the main road (that was our mistake). In fact, Google maps seems not aware of this pathway in the middle of the forest and wants to take you out of there at any cost.

Remain on the path until you see a staircase with the below sign (that’s the onsen logo, we discovered this later):

Climb all the stairs until you arrive in a main road with a parking. That’s part of the onsen. It honestly took us ages to figure out the correct road with no signs and no google maps. We arrived a little later but thankfully we booked our room in advance.

Enjoying Hakone’ hot spring baths

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Hakone Yurio

I’m planning to write a detailed guide on this experience but for know, you have to know that it definitely was one of the highlights of our trip to Hakone. Hakone Yurio is very special because is one of the few onsen allowing people with tattoos. Indeed, they have private onsen rooms (22 in total) where one can have an onsen experience without being a nuisance for the other (Japanese) guests. Rules about tattoos are quite strict in Japan’s onsen, so I was quite happy to have this opportunity and experience an onsen bath despite my fully tattooed back!

Private rooms have a mandatory reservation system, while the public onsen is free to access without any prior reservation. Of course, the difference in price is quite huge as while the public onsen cost only ￥1,700/2000, the private rooms price start at ￥9,400 (depending on the type of room). We chose one of the biggest rooms and paid around ￥13,000. However, our yukata was included and we got a discount thanks to the Hakone Freepass. Guests can stay in their booked facility for 120 mins. Hakone Yurio has also other facilities such as an onsite restaurant, relaxation rooms, reading rooms, massage rooms etc. One can literally spend half day there!

The whole experience was really lovely and it was the perfect way to complete our day out in Hakone. After walking more than 20k steps, a warm onsen bath was the much-needed conclusion of our adventure!

Step 8. Head to the station and return to Tokyo

Hakone Loop Itinerary – Romance GSE car with panoramic seats

Hakone Yurio is pretty close to the Hakone Yumoto station (so much that we decided to just walk). However, if you need a ride, the onsen provide a free shuttle to the station. We were perfectly in time for our train. For our return trip we booked a Romancecar with viewing platform and it was pretty amazing to watch the sunset from the train!

Hakone Loop Itinerary Map

Here you can see a map with all the locations mentioned for this loop itinerary in Hakone. In Google my maps there is not an option for public transport so I had to use the “driving” version to visually show the loop on the map. However you can open the map on your device and connect the location via public transport too.

Where to Stay in Hakone

If you want to stay longer in Hakone, here below there are three of my favourite hotels in the area:

• Hakone Kowakien Tenyu – Beautiful property not too far from Gora station boasting beautiful view on the mountains and bedroom with private onsen baths.
• The Fujiya Hotel – Historic hotel in Hakone featuring stunning Meiji Era architecture and a beautiful restaurant in the beautifully renovated Imperial villa. All the rooms have private hot-spring baths
• Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori – Close to Togendai station, this hotel has one of the most beautiful terrace with view on Lake Ashi and incredible hot spring baths.

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